5/5 Strange, Interesting and Fun
  by Scott Martin Gavin (Klamath Falls, Oregon United States)
This odd series is a superior anime offering. The anime is superb, the voice acting excellent and the music is wonderful, and if you find yourself humming along to the closing theme, there is a reason for it. It took me several listenings to realize it was set to a Strauss waltz (Down the Beautiful Blue Danube).

Though excellent, the art style is almost European rather than Japanese, reminding me a bit of Mobius's work, though not quite. The backgrounds are nearly all hand painted and are gorgeous. What took a bit of getting used to was the widely differing art styles used in the opening and closing sequences, and the inclusion of a bonus second opening sequence on each episode of the DVD. The episodes are short also, only about 12 minutes long, but each small story plays a part in a larger whole. I understand that this series was done as part of an "anthology" program containing several short episodes of anime in a single hour. This is an unusual format which is becoming more common. Each volume has two disks, and each disk has 24 episodes on it, so there is plenty of content on the disk.

The story centers around Arisu (Alice), a bratty little punk who secretly believe in magic. When she suffers what should be a fatal accident, she is transported to a world of magic. But it is a darker world that Alice expects, facing a terrible calamity, a world where humans like Alice are not welcome.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series, the quirky art and format providing a breath of fresh air. The deluxe edition of vol. 1 comes with a fake grimore which is actually a box with room enough to hold all three volumes as well as the yet unreleased (at the time of this review) Tweeny Witches movie. Some of the imagery and story might be a bit intense for younger viewers.

If you like Harry Potter or fantasy novels, you might well enjoy this Media Blasters offering.